Crankcase oil gauge wiper



@ct.4,1949. AMBLE ETAL 2,483,536

CRANKCASE OIL GAUGE WIPER Filed July 19, 1946 IN V EN TOR. 710; Ll. 'am/ Bf Vvyrre C. Gamb/e Patented Oct. 4, 1949 g CRANKCASE OIL GAUGE WIPER- Elias U. Gamble and Wayne 0. Gamble,

Colton, Calif.

Application July 19, 1946, Serial No. 684,866

This invention relates to a wiper for oil gauge rods.

An object of this invention is to provide a wiper for the oil quantity indicating gauge rod which is carried by the crankcase of automobile engines.

Another object of this invention is to provide a wiper of this kind which may be readily manufactured by bending a strip or rod of substantially resilient material upon itself to provide a pair of parallel arms and an absorbent material on each of the arms between which the gauge rod may be drawn for removing the oil and dirt therefrom after which the rod may be reinserted into the crankcase for determining the quantity and quality of the oil therein.

Another object of this invention is to provide an engine crankcase oil gauge rod wiper which is formed of a length of wire bent upon itself having a loop on one end which may readily be attached to the engine crankcase or on the forward side of the engine wall under the hood or any other suitable and convenient place in the car.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an engine gauge rod wiper of this kind having a pair of sleeves made of suitable absorbent material through which the rod may be drawn and which sleeves may readily be removed and replaced when they become dirty and saturated.

With the above and other objects in view, our invention consists in the arrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of this wiper,

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 33 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the wiper as used on an oil gauge rod.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral [0 designates generally a crankcase oil gauge rod wiper constructed according to an embodiment of our invention.

Frequently motorists have had occasion to check the oil in the crankcase of the engine, and have been without suitable means for wiping the rod clean to check for the quantity and quality of the oil. In service stations where the oil of many engines is checked daily, the attendants use any dirty or oily rags for wiping the rod and frequently some delay is occasioned while the 1 Claim. (01. 15 210) 2 attendant searches for such a suitable rag or other material.

As in all cases, to check the oil, the gauge rod must be first withdrawn from the crankcase, wiped clean, reinserted and again withdrawn to show or indicate the quantity and quality of the oil in the crankcase. It would be much more convenient to provide a wiper for cleaning the rod which might be readily and accessibly carried in the engine compartment of the car, and which may be stored at a convenient location in a service station, thereby providing an always ready wiper for such rods, and, especially at service stations, it would be most desirable to have such a wiper which could be provided with a readily replaceable absorbent element. Such a wiper, since it is used for a generally considered minor operation, must necessarily be simple and efiicient to be sold at a very low price, or even handed out as an advertising device. Such a device is provided by a wiper constructed according to an embodiment of this invention.

An oil gauge indicating rod is designated generally by the numeral II and is provided with an elongated fiat blade l2, having indicia M inscribed along the length thereof for indicating the level of the oil in the crankcase.

The wiper l0 which is provided for wiping the oil and dirt from the blade [2, is formed of an elongated metal rod bent upon itself to form a symmetrical body or device. The rod is formed with a substantially arcuate loop l5 at one end of the wiper l0, and a pair of parallel arms I6, I! extending forwardly from the loop 15 in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the loop [5 in such a manner that the arms I6, I! provide a body for the wiper Ill. The arms I6, I! are bent at their forward or outer ends outwardly at an acute angle to provide a pair of outwardly divergent ends l'8, I9 respectively, to facilitate the insertion of the rod H between the arms l6, H.

A looped strap or clamp 20 is formed of a flat length of metal bent around the arms l6, H, at their inner ends adjacent the loop I 5, for securely positioning and holding the arms l6, I! in spaced apart relation at their inner ends, whereby the inner ends of the arms l6, H are held against separation.

For Wiping the blade l2 clean of oil and dirt, there are provided a pair of cylindrical or tubular members 2|, 22, which are adapted to be carried by the arms I5, I! respectively, along the length of the arms I6, [1, the sleeves 21 and 22 resiliently engaging each other along their adjacent edges as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The

sleeves 2|, 22 may be made of soft cloth or soft paper or any other suitable soft absorbent material, and are adapted to be slidable on their respective arms l6, H, for removal when they become dirty or saturated with oil.

In the use of this crankcase oil gauge rod wiper, the sleeves 2 I, 22 may be slid onto the arms l6, I! by sliding up the ends l8, l9 and by holding the arms I6, I! apart while the sleeves 721,, 22 are correctly positioned. The rod blade [2 may readily be inserted between the ends l8, l9 and slipped between the sleeves 2!, 22 longitudinally of the rod H for removing the dirt and oil.

We do not mean to confine ourselves to the exact details of construction herein-dislosdfiut claim all variations falling within the purview of the appended claim.

What we claim is:

An oil gauge rod wiper comprising a length 'of substantially resilient wire bent upon itself to form-a loop intermediatethe length of wire and constituting a supporting hook, a pair of parallel arms perpendicular to the plane of'saicl loop and-extending forwardly therefrom, a clamping strap engaging about saidaiuns adjacent said loop, wiping elements slidable and rotatable on said arms, and outwardly divergent terminal ends on said arms restraining said elements from inadvertent sliding movement therefrom.

ELIAS U. GAMBLE. WAYNE C. GAMBLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are 0! record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D.. 38,653 Hudson Dec. 13, 1932 12611688 Bratherton Apr. 2, 1918 1,289,325 Wake Dec. 31, 1918 11,771,164 .Crompton July 22, 1930 1,922,450 O'Brien Aug. 15, 1933 1,962,675 Zentmyer June 12, 1934 2,329,757 Greenfield Sept. 21, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Da-te 261694 Great Britain Mar. 24, 1927 1345, 563 Canada Oct. 30, 1934 

